Gigabyte
8IEXP (i845E) Mainboard
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This is one of the first boards on the new Intel's chipset that we received,
and it set a very high functional level that made us estimate the others without
indulgence. Accessories:
- Package of the standard design of the P4 Titan series;
- Documentation: user manual and brief installation manual - in English;
- Cables: 3 ATA66/100/133 and FDD;
- Bracket with 4 USB ports;
- Bracket with 3 IEEE1394 connectors;
- Bracket with SPDIF-Outs (Coaxial and TosLink);
- Bracket for the rear computer panel;
- CD containing:
- drivers;
- DirectX 8.1a;
- Adobe Acrobat Reader;
- ITE GSM Editor;
- Norton Internet Security 2002;
- System Information Viewer;
- Gigabyte EasyTune 3;
- Gigabyte EasyTune 4;
- Gigabyte Face Wizard;
- Gigabyte Utility Manager;
- Gigabyte Management Tool;
- Gigabyte IA Panel.
The layout is not perfect because of multiple integrated controllers: the audio-ins
and IDE RAID connectors are too close to the PCI slots, an inserted video card
creates difficulties in handling memory modules, and the row of connectors on
the left edge do not allows using the last PCI slots comfortably. It's not difficult
to reach the only jumper when the board is already installed. Its function is
shown on the textolite. The 3-channel switching voltage regulator incorporates
7 capacitors of 2200 uF and 9 of 1200 uF. The following controllers are
integrated: - audio controller based on the Creative CT5880-DEC
chip with a connector for front audio inputs/outputs, SPDIF, and with support
for 4.1 audio systems;
- network controller based on the chipset's
capabilities supporting 10Base-T/100Base-TX;
- IDE RAID controller
on the Promise PDC20276 chip supporting RAID 0 and 1 on the ATA133 protocol;
-
IEEE1394 bus controller on the VIA VT6306 chip.
The Winbond W83L518D
SmartI/O controller provides support for smart cards and flash cards of the SD
and MS formats (the connectors are built in). The board incorporates
the DualBIOS technology (second Flash EEPROM chip for a copy of the BIOS).
Non-unsoldered connectors: none. The system monitoring is supported by the
ITE IT8712F-A chip. What is controlled: - processor voltage, +3.3,
+-5 and +-12 V, VBAT, +5 V Standby;
- speed of 2 fans;
-
temperatures of the processor (a built-in sensor), and the board (a built-in sensor).
There
are 2 connectors for adjustable connection of fans and 2 for nonadjustable connection
(one of them is connected to a fan on the north bridge's heatsink). Brief
characteristics of the board: memory slots - 3 DDR SDRAM; expansion slots
- AGP/ 6 PCI/ CNR; I/O ports - 2 COM/ LPT/ 2 PS/2/ 6 USB 2.0/ 3 IEEE1394; dimensions
- 305x245 mm.
Adjustment
can be carried out with:
| jumpers and switches | Jumper
to clear up the CMOS | | | BIOS based on AwardBIOS
6.00PG from Phoenix | Setup of memory timings | + | Top
Performance | | Setup of memory frequency | + | Auto,
FSBx1.5, FSBx2,0 | | Setup of AGP bus | - | |
| Setup of PCI bus | - | | | Changeable
scaler of AGP and PCI buses | + | PCI (AGP/2) = 33-50
in 1 MHz steps | | Manual assignment of interrupts | + | |
| Changeable FSB frequency | + | 100 - 355 in 1
MHz steps | | Changeable CPU multiplier | - | |
| Changeable core voltage | + | 1.5 - 1.725 V in
0.025V steps | | Changeable memory voltage | + | +0.1,
+0.2, +0.3 V | | Changeable chipset voltage | - | |
| Changeable AGP bus voltage | + | +0.1, +0.2,
+0.3 V | We used the latest available version of the BIOS -
BIOS F8a. The board boasts almost all existent controllers, not to mention
the overclocking potential, - just imagine 355 MHz on the FSB bus! :) Test
results:
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